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The Persecution of Yazidis by Kurds describes mainly the massacres of Yazidis committed by some Muslim Kurdish tribes due to religion. Sometimes, during these massacres, Muslim Kurds tried to force the Yazidis to convert to Islam. Almost the whole Yazidi population were nearly wiped out by massacres carried out by Turks and Kurds in the 19th century. In modern times, Kurdistan Region is accused of taking over traditional Yazidi settlements.

History

In the 10th century, Kurds joined the persecution of Yazidis in the Hakkari mountains after having Islamized. Muslim Kurds persecuted the Yazidis with particular brutality.

Bedir Khan Beg and Muhammad Pasha massacres

In the year 1832, about 70,000 Yazidis were killed by the Kurdish leaders Bedir Khan Beg and Muhammad Pasha of Rawanduz. During his research trips in 1843, the Russian traveller and orientalist Ilya Berezin mentioned that 7,000 Yazidis were killed by Kurds of Rawandiz on the hills of Nineveh near Mosul, shortly before his arrival. According to many historical reports, the Bedir Khan massacres can today be classified as a genocide. In 1414, Kurds destroyed the holy Lalish temple and desecrated the tomb of Sheikh Adi. Yazidis later rebuilt their temple and the tomb of Sheikh Adi.

In 1831, Muhammad Pasha massacred the people of the Kellek village. He then went northward and attacked the entire Yazidi-inhabited foothill country east of Mosul. Some Yazidis managed to take refuge in the neighboring forests and mountain fastnesses, and a few managed to escape to distant places.

In 1832, Muhammad Pasha with his troops committed a massacre on the Yazidis in Khatarah. Subsequently, he attacked the Yazidis in Shekhan and killed many of them. In another attempt he and his troops occupied over 300 Yazidi villages. The emir kidnapped over 10,000 Yazidis to Rawandiz and gave them the ultimated of converting to Islam or be killed. Most of them converted to Islam and the rest who refused were killed.

In 1832, Bedir Khan Beg with his troops committed a massacre on the Yazidis in Shekhan. His men almost killed the whole Yazidi population of Shekhan. Some Yazidis tried to escape to Sinjar. When attempting to escape towards Sinjar, many drowned in the Tigris river. Those who could not swim were killed. About 12,000 Yazidis were killed on the bank of the Tigris river by Bedir Khan Beg's men. Yazidi women and children were also kidnapped.

In 1833, the Yazidis were attacked in the Aqrah region again by Muhammad Pasha and his soldiers. The perpetrators killed 500 Yazidis in the Greater Zab. Muhammad Pasha afterwards attacked the Yazidis in Sinjar and killed many of them.

In 1844, Bedir Khan Beg committed a massacre on the Yazidis in the Tur Abdin region. His men also captured many Yazidis forcing them to convert to Islam. Seven Yazidi villages were forced to Islam and have converted.

Many Yazidis also defended themselves against the attacks. So did Ali Beg, the Yazidi leader in Sheikhan. Yazidi leader Ali Beg used his forces to oppose Muhammad Pasha, who mobilized the Kurdish tribes of the surrounding mountains to attack the Yazidis. Ali Beg's troops were outnumbered and he was captured and killed by the Muhammad Pasha.

Beside Bedir Khan Beg and Muhammad Pasha, the Kurdish philosopher Mahmud Bayazidi viewed the Yazidis as unbelievers.

20th century

During the Armenian genocide, Yazidis were killed by some Kurdish groups while others opposed the events and hid and protected them. More than 300,000 Yazidis were killed, while others fled to Transcaucasia.

Modern times

According to a report by Human Rights Watch, the Kurdish authorities have used heavy-handed tactics against the Yazidis and was accused of kidnapping and beating two Yazidi men who criticized the actions of the authorities.

There have also been some demographic changes in Yazidi-majority areas after the fall of Saddam. In the Sheikhan area, which is considered a historic Yazidi stronghold, the Kurdish authorities have settled Sunni Kurds to strengthen their claim.

See also

• Soran Emirate

References

1. ^ Naby, Eden (2009). "Yazīdīs". In Esposito, John (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195305135.
2. ^ Asatrian, Garnik S.; Arakelova, Victoria (2014-09-03). The Religion of the Peacock Angel: The Yezidis and Their Spirit World. Routledge. ISBN 9781317544289.
3. Orient-Institut, Deutsches; Franz, Erhard (1994). Population policy in Turkey: family planning and migration between 1960 and 1992. Deutsches Orient-Institut. p. 332. ISBN 9783891730348. Throughout history, there was no shortage of attempts by Kurdish Muslims to violently convert the Yazidis to Islam.
4. Non-State Violent Actors and Social Movement Organizations: Influence, Adaptation, and Change. Emerald Group Publishing. 2017-04-26. p. 75. ISBN 9781787147287.
5. Travis, Hannibal (2010). Genocide in the Middle East: The Ottoman Empire, Iraq, and Sudan. Carolina Academic Press. ISBN 9781594604362. The Yazidis were nearly wiped out by massacres carried out by Turks and Kurds.
6. Ghareeb, Edmund A.; Dougherty, Beth (2004-03-18). Historical Dictionary of Iraq. Scarecrow Press. p. 248. ISBN 9780810865686. Massacres at the hands of the Ottoman Turks and Kurdish princes almost wiped out the Yazidis during the 19th century.
7. ^ Documentation, Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and (2017-10-02). "Anfragebeantwortung zum Irak: Lage der JesidInnen, insbesondere in der Provinz Ninawa [a-10353]". www.ecoi.net (in German). Retrieved 2019-06-19.
8. Shanks, Kelsey (2015-11-19). Education and Ethno-Politics: Defending Identity in Iraq. Routledge. ISBN 9781317520429.
9. "Explainer: Who are the Yazidis?". SBS News.
10. Steinvorth, Daniel (2016-12-22). "Jagd auf den Engel Pfau | NZZ". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in Swiss High German). ISSN 0376-6829. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
11. Field, Henry (1951). "Appendix A: A visit to the Yezidis in 1843 by Ilya Berezin, in The Anthropology of Iraq". iiif.lib.harvard.edu. p. 76. Retrieved 2019-09-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
12. King, Diane E. (2013-12-31). Kurdistan on the Global Stage: Kinship, Land, and Community in Iraq. Rutgers University Press. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-8135-6354-1.
13. "Die Religionsgemeinschaft der Yezidi: Weh dem, der nicht ans Höllenfeuer glaubt - Qantara.de". Qantara.de - Dialog mit der islamischen Welt (in German).
14. Jwaideh, Wadie (2006-06-19). The Kurdish National Movement: Its Origins and Development. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-8156-3093-7.
15. ^ Layard, Austen Henry (1849). Niniveh and Its Remains: With an Account of a Visit to the Chaldaean Christians of Kurdistan, and the Yezidis, Or Devil-Worshippers : and an Enquiry Into the Manners and Arts of the Ancient Assyrians. Murray.
16. Jwaideh, Wadie (2006). The Kurdish National Movement: Its Origins and Development. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9780815630937.
17. NEBEZ, Jemal (2017-08-14). Der kurdische Fürst MĪR MUHAMMAD AL-RAWĀNDIZĪ genannt MĪR-Ī KŌRA: Ein Beitrag zur kurdischen Geschichte (in German). epubli. ISBN 9783745011258.
18. Barbara Henning (2018). Narratives of the History of the Ottoman-Kurdish Bedirhani Family. p. 99. ISBN 978-3863095512.
19. Acikyildiz, Birgul (2014-08-20). The Yezidis: The History of a Community, Culture and Religion. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 9781784532161.
20. ^ Tagay, Sefik; Ortac, Serhat. "Die Eziden und das Ezidentum – Geschichte und Gegenwart einer vom Untergang bedrohten Religion" (PDF) (in German). pp. 49–50.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
21. Ateş, Sabri (2013-10-21). Ottoman-Iranian Borderlands: Making a Boundary, 1843-1914. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107033658.
22. Maisel, Sebastian (2018-06-30). The Kurds: An Encyclopedia of Life, Culture, and Society. ABC-CLIO. p. 266. ISBN 9781440842573.
23. Rezvani, Babak (2014-03-15). Ethno-territorial conflict and coexistence in the caucasus, Central Asia and Fereydan: academisch proefschrift. Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 9789048519286.
24. "On Vulnerable Ground | Violence against Minority Communities in Nineveh Province's Disputed Territories". Human Rights Watch. 2009-11-10. In one incident, Kurdish intelligence officers arrested two Yazidi activists, Khalil Rashu Alias and Wageed Mendo Hamoo, in May 2007. The two told Human Rights Watch that Kurdish authorities imprisoned the pair for almost six months and tortured them for resisting what they called the Kurdish colonization of their territory in Sinjar.

• Persecution of Yazidis
• Forced religious conversion
• Massacres in the Ottoman Empire